Rumour: Volkswagen "considering" compact sedan for India

Governmental regulations have been deciding car design and specifications across the globe. In India, the government's focus (along with attractive sops) on smaller, fuel efficient cars led to the origin of the compact sedan segment. The compact sedan segment was spawned by the Tata Indigo eCS, a shortened, sub-4 meter version of the Indigo sedan.

Note: Volkswagen Vento image used in this report is illustrative in nature

However, the maximum traction from this segment came with the launch of the Maruti Swift Dzire and Honda Amaze compact sedans. These cars, together account for over 20,000 units in monthly sales. Allured by the big volumes that the compact sedan segment is delivering, Volkswagen India is said to be considering a compact sedan for the Indian car market.

As the Polo measures 3,970 mm in length and as the Vento is essentially a sedan version of the Polo, adding a boot to the Polo might not cut the ice in length terms. Therefore, a compact sedan based on the Volkswagen Up! platform might be in the works. Apart from using the Up! platform, Volkswagen could also use the longer wheelbase floorpan of the larger Taigun crossover, a product that is also underpinned by the Up! platform. 

Volkswagen is developing a 1.5 liter TDI turbo diesel engine, a downsized version of the 1.6 liter TDI unit.  This new diesel engine is likely to find use on not just the Polo and the Vento but also on the new Volkswagen compact sedan. The petrol engine for the Volkswagen compact sedan could be the 1.2 liter TSI unit as the German car maker has asserted that it will phase out naturally aspirated engines by 2015. 

The Volkswagen compact sedan, if greenlighted for production, is not likely to be launched in India before 2015 as Volkswagen maintains that all-new models (entailing fresh investment) would be launched here only in 2015 and beyond. Until then, the German car maker will persist with variants and refreshes of its current car range. 

Source AutocarIndia